Striped Bass were established in Lake Mead 1969.  Since the introduction of the Striper, Lake Mead has become a great fishery for these fish. The largest manmade lake in the US covers 1.5 million acres of land or 247 sq miles and is 112 miles long.  When full, the lake has about 550 miles of shoreline.  

Listed below are some tips and techniques for the different months of the year. The Striped Bass can be caught year round throughout the Lake with a good chance of catching 20 plus fish most days if you know the Lake well.

January-April

During these months, live bait may still be netted. However, if the bait has gone to the deep water then anchoring in 100-150 feet of water and fishing with anchovies or sardines may do the trick.  Jigging in the deep water is another method that can be very productive. Trolling big wake baits or umbrella rigs in depths of 50-100ft also works well.

Baits and lures for this time of year:
Some people use anchovies and sardines.  Others use frozen or live shad or even frozen squid.  Spinnows, kastmasters, or buck tail jigs work in the deep water. Wake baits such as the Famous “AC Plug” or the Spro “BBZ” work very well casted or trolled.

May-June

During this time of year, early morning top water is possible.  Cut bait or long line trolling work as well.  Also due to excessive daytime temperatures, night time fishing is preferred and quite productive.

Top water lures such as pencil poppers and zara spooks or anything that you can walk the dog with are great options. Trolling lures such as rattletraps and the storm swim baits are very effective as well.

July & August

This time of year there is early and evening top water action. Other wise most people anchor up at night under fishing lights and fish with cut bait to avoid the scorching desert temperatures.

September-December

This is a tricky time of year. The Lake will start to turn for the winter and anything is possible. You might be able to net shad, jig the deep water or fish cut bait at any time. Downriggers also work well during this period. The fish could be up shallow in the morning then move deeper as the day moves on. Then this pattern will reverse as night begins to fall.